Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis addressed the Greek Diaspora Community in Astoria as part of his visit to the US.
The Greek prime minister said, “We will not disappoint you. I want to work with the competent ministers to sharply reduce bureaucracy in the consulates. You will soon see the results of our work. We will also support the teaching of Greek. The Church and the language are the cohesive force between the Greek Diaspora and the motherland.”
He made a special reference to the vote of the Diaspora Greeks, “We are working so that Greeks living abroad can participate in elections through postal voting. An ‘absentee ballot’ would be introduced. Anyone who is registered in the electoral rolls will be able to vote through postal voting so that one does not have to come to Greece in order to vote. The constitution stipulates that the Parliament must pass a bill with 200 votes in order to introduce postal voting. I will soon be in touch with political leaders to present them the proposal.”
Moreover, the Greek prime minister met yesterday President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. During their conversation, they discussed the infringing behaviour of Turkey, the Cyprus issue and the refugee crisis.
At the same time, Kyriakos Mitsotakis raised the issue of the reopening of Halki seminary, which, according to government sources cited by Capital.gr, is being reviewed in a positive spirit by Turkey.
Meeting with the Archbishop of America
PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis will attend a luncheon with executives of the Greek Diaspora at 13:00 local time. The PM will also meet the Archbishop of America at 15:30.